Sunderland 2 Swansea City 0: match report

Read a full match report of the Premier League game between Sunderland and
Swansea City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday Jan 21, 2012.

Back of the net: Stéphane Sessègnon (left), the Sunderland midfielder, scored the first goal of the game at the Stadium of Light Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Jason Mellor at Stadium of Light

10:30PM GMT 21 Jan 2012

Swansea were unceremoniously brought back down to earth, their five-game unbeaten run ended, thanks to two moments of stand-out quality in an otherwise largely forgettable affair.

From the high of putting Arsenal to the sword, a week on Swansea were left to reflect on what might have been after failing to make the most of their dominance of possession. They succumbed to well-taken goals in each half from Stephane Sessegnon, the Benin international, and substitute Craig Gardner to leave them with just a single victory from their 12 visits to Wearside.

The other talking point was an ugly two-footed lunge by Seb Larsson on Scott Sinclair late in the game, when one goal still separated the teams , a challenge equal to, if not more offensive than the one which earned Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany a red card in the Manchester derby earlier this month. Referee Chris Foy administered that contentious sending off, but he chose not to even brandish yellow on this occasion, in a game where he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.

After a bright opening, Swansea were left to rue a pivotal passage of play which led to Sessegnon opening the scoring in the 14th minute. Wes Brown’s mistake allowed on-loan midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s astute pass to pick out Nathan Dyer, whose low cross from the right found its way to Sinclair, unmarked at the far post. But Sinclair rushed his shot, only finding the crowd behind Simon Mignolet’s goal.

Within 60 seconds, the hosts were ahead. Sessegnon darted towards an incoming pass from the left flank and, after James McClean miscontrolled, curled a right-foot finish past Michel Vorm into the top corner from a narrow angle .

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Breathing space was secured with five minutes remaining. Gardner who had come off the bench, made an almost immediate impact, controlling a Sessegnon pass with his chest and sending a looping 25-yard effort into the top corner to seal manager Martin O’Neill’s sixth victory in nine matches. “It was a good victory for us against a fine footballing side,” O’Neill said. “In the end, two great goals decided the game and we gave a pretty resolute account of ourselves.”

To his credit, Brendan Rodgers wouldn’t fan the flames over the lunge on Sinclair, but the Swansea manager reflected that the referee may have over-compensated after the backlash following his Mancunian misdemeanour.

“I didn’t think it was dangerous,” Rodgers said of Larsson’s ill-timed intervention. “But in the modern game it’s a challenge you can get sent off for. Maybe Chris [Foy] has just reined himself in and taken a different stance on it .”